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Frustration and melting of colloidal molecular crystals

C J Olson Reichhardt1 and C Reichhardt2

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Using numerical simulations we show that a variety of novel colloidal crystalline states and multi-step melting phenomena occur on square and triangular two-dimensional periodic substrates. At half-integer fillings different kinds of frustration effects can be realized. A two-step melting transition can occur in which individual colloidal molecules initially rotate, destroying the overall orientational order, followed by the onset of interwell colloidal hopping, in good agreement with recent experiments.


PACS

82.70.Dd Colloids

64.70.D- Solid–liquid transitions

MSC

82D25 Crystals (For crystallographic group theory, see 20H15)

81V55 Molecular physics (See also 92E10)

Subjects

Soft matter, liquids and polymers

Condensed matter: structural, mechanical & thermal

Chemical physics and physical chemistry

Dates

Issue 22 (6 June 2003)

Received 17 October 2002, in final form 6 January 2003

Published 22 May 2003



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